Texans' 2019 schedule highlighted by Monday Night...

1of18PHOTOS: The entire Texans 2019 scheduleJ.J. Watt and the Houston Texans open the 2019 season against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )Browse through the photos above for a look at the Houston Texans' entire 2019 schedule ...Photo: Houston Chronicle

The game is headlined by a showdown between Deshaun Watson, one of the top young quarterbacks in the game, and former NFL Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl champion quarterback Drew Brees.

The Texans' Sept. 9 game marks the Saints' first game since a controversial playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams that included a botched no pass interference call.

The defending AFC South champions' home opener is Sept. 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars are also the Texans' opponent at Wembley Stadium in London on Nov. 3, which marks the team's first game in the United Kingdom.

The Texans' first-place schedule, following an 11-5 season, includes difficult consecutive road games Oct. 13 at the Kansas City Chiefs, led by NFL Most Valuable Player quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The following week, the Texans face the Indianapolis Colts for the first time since losing to them in an AFC wild-card game at NRG Stadium in January.

The Texans' bye follows their London game.

The Texans have a Sunday night home game against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Two of their final three games are against the AFC South rival Tennessee TItans: Dec. 15 in Nashville, Tenn., and a regular-season finale Dec. 29 against Tennessee at NRG Stadium.

Browse through the photos above for a look at the Houston Texans' entire 2019 schedule.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, joining the paper in August 2015. He was a Baltimore Ravens beat writer from 2001 to 2015, working for The Baltimore Sun, including coverage of Super Bowl XLVII, the Ray Rice domestic violence case and the careers of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Jonathan Ogden, and previously covered the team for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.

This marks the second time the Washington, D.C. native has covered the AFC South, previously covering the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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